Second-ranked Lady Falcons edge past Cardinal

At least it does to West Burlington-Notre Dame softball players Emily Siefken and Kori Mesecher, who came up with clutch performances to lead the second-ranked (Class 3A) Lady Falcons to the SEI Superconference South Division title after a 4-3, nine-inning victory over Cardinal Monday.

Both players, and many of their teammates, have been in their fair share of games with something on the line. This time, they helped secure the division title against the only team that still had a chance.

"Once Cardinal brought up its intensity, we had to bring ours up and hope it was enough," Siefken said. "Fortunately it was. We got some big hits and made some big plays. We're going home with a win, and we're happy about that."

Advertisement

Siefken had struggled in four previous trips to the plate against Cardinal pitcher Lacie Moore, but a minor adjustment in the batter's box helped her gap a two-run double with two outs in the top of the ninth to score Riley Hale and Courtney Coffin with the eventual game-winning runs.

"I heard the catcher move just a little bit, but (Moore) had gone outside the first two pitches, so I figured she would again," Siefken said. "I angled my feet more (closed stance) and just went with the pitch. I did what I had to do."

Mesecher has pitched in some big games since Alex Yacko went down after a tonsillectomy. The procedure has caused complications for Yacko, but Mesecher may have given her finest performance yet. The freshman showed no sign of nerves, just a calmness whether she was retiring 16 straight Comet hitters or laboring through the last two innings. Mesecher struck out nine, instilling even more confidence that coach David Oleson can trot out different players to pitch big games.

"I think a lot of that is just experience with ASA," Mesecher said of her mental approach. "I wanted to go out and win this for Alex and Regan (Fraise). We knew it would be a tough game, but we got through it. Experience definitely helps us a bunch."

"You talk about clutch," Oleson said. "Emily is probably the most calming force we have out there on defense, and the rest of the team feeds off that. Kori just keeps coming up big when we need her to."

After the Lady Falcons (26-4, 12-0 division) left the bases loaded in the first inning, Oleson figured the game was going to be a battle. Especially after Cardinal (19-11, 10-3) went ahead in the bottom of the first on Cory Campbell's RBI fielder's choice in which Sarah Greiner scored when catcher Kelci Hill's foot missed the plate for the force out.

The Lady Falcons got the run back in the third after Hale's leadoff triple and Mesecher's fielder's choice. From there, it was a great duel, but Mesecher was dominating in pitching perfect softball from the third through seventh innings to keep WB-ND in the game.

"I think I was just kind of in a zone. Everything was working for me," Mesecher said. "But our defense is really good. They have my back on every play."

"We go through constant work on our defense, but these kids know what to do when they get here (to varsity)," Oleson said. "I just tweak it some."

WB-ND finally executed with runners in scoring position in the eighth, as Machaela Diaz doubled to left-center with two outs to score Raegan Olson. However, the Comets answered on Allison Ollom's bloop single to right that scored Moore. Cardinal almost won the game except for a great play at shortstop by Hale. Hale took away an infield single from Campbell with a diving stop and throw to get her by a step.

"We're a high-risk, high-reward team offensively and defensively," Oleson said. "Defensively, we're going to try to make the diving catch, and if the ball goes by us, so be it because it has before."

The offensive effort from Hale and Coffin finally paid off in the ninth. Both reached on bunt singles with one out before Siefken's hit. Hale and Coffin combined to go 7-for-8 on the night, but weren't rewarded for one of the few times all season

"It may have looked frustrating, but one through nine, we're capable of ripping the ball," Oleson said. "We'd done it all year, but coming here we knew Cardinal would be focused and ready to play. They were ready and they played an awesome game tonight."

Cardinal's last-chance effort came up a run short in the ninth. Morgan Honomichl singled in Liz Nichols with two out, but Mesecher got Moore to pop up to Hill to end the game.

Winning the division title was just one goal for a team that was the state runner-up in Class 2A last season.

"That's always our first goal," Mesecher said. "But now we just do what we have to do to get to state again."

Oleson has never been one to stress state tournament. He figures it will happen if it's mean to happen.

"I've never pushed it because if we win our conference and we're playing well, things take care of themselves," he said. "I couldn't be more proud of the team tonight. They never quit."